Foot Locker shares soar 18.5% premarket after blowout earnings at MarketWatch. “Same-store sales soared 9.7%, well ahead of the 4.5% FactSet consensus.” Read more

 

Gap closing roughly 230 stores (50% of locations!) and spinning Old Navy into its own company by Charisse Jones at USA Today. Read more

 

Gap Q4 comp sales:

Old Navy Global: flat versus +9% last year
Gap Global: -5% versus flat last year
Banana Republic Global: -1% versus +1% last year

Press release

 

Nordstrom Q4 comp sales: Full-price -1.6% / Off-price +4.0% Press release

 

7-Eleven’s new test store opens in Oak Cliff, TX with beer on tap, wine and Laredo Taco Company taqueria by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “…another one is planned for Prosper later this year. The stores will be used to develop brands and try new ideas. Others are opening in San Diego and Washington, D.C., according to The Advocate. The coffee menu is also extensive with made to order drinks.” Tiered subs.

 

Tesla closing retail stores in shift to online-only sales strategy at TechCrunch. “Tesla CEO Elon Musk  didn’t say how many stores would close. He noted that some stores would remain and turn into information centers and showrooms.” Read more

 

Chuck Rubin out as CEO of Michaels “Mark Cosby named Interim Chief Executive Officer…most recently serving as President, North America at Office Depot Inc. Prior to joining Office Depot Inc., Mr. Cosby served as President, Retail at CVS Caremark Corporation” Press release

 

EBay announces review of StubHub, Classifieds in deal with Elliott at Reuters. Read more

 

Walmart CEO outlines ‘specific steps’ stores can take to support disabled greeters by Kelly Tyko at USA Today. “Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., sent a memo to all store managers Thursday outlining the transition and how “each case requires a thoughtful solution.” Read more

 

Amazon stops selling Dash buttons by Ben Fox Rubin at CNET. “If you still proudly use a Dash button (or a few dozen), don’t worry: Amazon plans to continue supporting new orders through existing Dash buttons so long as the public keeps using them.” Read more

 

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Walmart hands out supplier awards at Supplier Summit by Kim Souza at Talk Business. 

Food suppliers of the year: Kettle Cuisine, Rio King, Shearer, Smithfield, and Unilever.
Consumable suppliers of the year: Freshpet, Unilever, PG, and Slimfast.
General Merchandise suppliers of the year: Classic Fashion, Goodyear, Bissell and Sony Playstation.
E-commerce suppliers of the year: Coleman, Lego, PG Sterile, Lenovo and Shark.   Read more

 

Lowe’s pulls the plug on upscale online play, laying off 175 in Kirkland, WA by Paul Roberts at Seattle Times. Tiered subs.

 

CVS Names Chief Information Officer to Lead Aetna Integration by Angus Loten at Wall Street Journal. “Roshan Navagamuwa, who over the past year served as interim CIO, was named CIO and executive vice president of the combined health-industry giant, leading all areas of technology operations and innovation, according to a statement provided by the company.” WSJ subs.

 

Spurned New York officials begging Amazon and Jeff Bezos to rethink HQ2 reversal by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. Read more

 

Study: 67% of mystery shoppers says Walgreens new digital-coolers are ‘Excellent’ at Field Agent.  Download report

 

How Walmart’s In-House Incubator Is Imagining Virtual Reality for Retail by Marty Swant at Adweek. Adweek Subscription

 

Target and vineyard vines Team Up on Limited-Edition Design Partnership at A Bullseye View. Read more

 

Amazon lets Prime members pick which day packages will arrive by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “At checkout, users will have the option to set an “Amazon Day.” That will remain the default day of the week for the program unless changed.” Read more

 

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Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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